The A2 will be at Wal-Marts across the US. If the orders hold true, each store will get 18-30 A2's. That means Wal-Mart placed an order for 60k+ (just the first order, there even might be a second or third depending how well this goes). This is not an item on clearance. If a store went from carrying 0 (or 1-2) two 18-30, its that they ORDERED more stock. Clearance usually means, well, getting rid of a product. Now, you can argue that its the "old model" but the Gen3 players JUST launched and most stores don't even carry them yet. This is still a recent model (being advertised at Best Buy/Circuit City), its not like this is the A1 or RCA model. I wouldn't be shocked to hear Toshiba built all these A2s JUST got Wal-Mart. I guess we will know in coming days/week, maybe as early as tomorrow when they announce HD DVD won the week and the official Transformers sales.

Now, we can argue about the price of each player all day. As it stands, the A2 is available at Wal-Mart for $198. The $399 PS3 is not available at a single store. As of TODAY, the cheapest Blu-ray player is $499, which includes the PS3, Samsung 1200/1400, Sony BDP-300, Panasonic etc. Sure, in a week the PS3 will be $399.99, but thats a video game system that happens to play Blu-rays, its not a stand alone which is where the format will go. If Blu-ray takes off, do you expect to see more sales of stand alones or PS3s? My bet is stand alones, which is why you see Samsung, Panasonic, Pioneer etc. making players. Even WB acknowledged this with their recent article claiming that while Blu-ray sales are great BECAUSE of the PS3, its not where they expect either format to go. Its with stand alones, and at the moment, there is now a $300 difference.

I'm sure the counter argument will be "well this is a 1080i player! It shouldn't be counted as it does not compare since there is no 1080i Blu-ray player". While this may be a good argument if we were say, 5 years in the future when 1080p TVs are the "norm" as it stands, most people that buy LCDs, Plasmas, whatever are getting 720p/1080i. Very few will spend the extra couple $100 for 1080p. Hell, HD TV Stations are 1080i only (got obvious reason), and yes, 720p/1080i is true. HD.

I don't think Weinstein has ever said they were HD DVD exclusive. Its cheaper and easier to make movies for it then Blu-ray at the moment. EVERY SINGLE release by Weinsten has NEVER been a day a date with the DVD. Clerks II arrives months after the DVD. Pulse. Black Xmas. Lucky Number Slevin etc. I don't understand the reason behind this, but common sense would say releasing the HD DVD on the same day as the DVD would mean in increase in HD DVD sales as HD DVD owners like myself would buy that before the DVD. They chose not to, and by the time the movie arrives on HD DVD, the DVD of said movie is not in the "bargain' pricing scheme of $9.99 or less. The majority of sales from DVDs come from the first 2 weeks. After that they taper off, hence why they are on sale a few weeks/months later for half of what they originally retailed for.

If Weinstein went neutral I wouldn't care, nor would very many others. They have only released a handful of HD DVDs to date, and there not even that great PQ wise. Hell, I don't know how any of the smaller studios are exclusive to either side as it makes no sense. Just release on both and capture the audience. Weinstein will not change the format war. Lionsgate won't.

now that's what i call blu-ray news! somehow i'm going to have to convince my wife that we need a PS3 before november 20th.

Why do you try so hard to pimp HD-dvd in the Blu-Ray thread?

Let's get back on topic here. GizmoDVD your wish is my command.

Even Paramount Home Entertainment’s release of the DreamWorks theatrical blockbuster Transformers exclusively on the HD DVD format didn’t tip the scale last week. Though there was no hot new Blu-ray Disc release, consumers continued to buy more Blu-ray Discs than HD DVDs for the week ended Oct. 21, albeit by a slim 51% to 49% edge. Paramount says Transformers sold 190,000 units its first week in stores, but Home Media Magazine market research and studio estimates puts the actual number of units that sold through to consumers closer to 115,000.

http://www.homemediamagazine.com/new...ticle_id=11439

Yikes. Thats A LOT of free movies the BDA had to give away just to maintain a 2 point lead. Can't wait to see how many copies both POTC sold compared to the week before. Love how the article neglects to mention the BOGO sale nearly every store had. No bias at all there.

As strange as it may sound I have to agree with you: no, the article is not biased.

Still, I am going to wait for the official data by Nielsen tomorrow before I comment.

Ciao,
Pro-B

I think he's actually trying to pimp Walmart. Like the worst retail corp in America needs his support.

You people should be willing to pay a little bit more just to avoid Walmart.

Okay, this post IS trolling. Gizmo, if you're that determined to find fault with any bit of Blu-ray news, then you may want to stick to other threads.

Panasonic Dmp-bd30k
 

Specs and photos of the upcoming Panasonic BR player HDMI 1.3b, Profile 1.1, dts-HD bitstream. (set to be released this December, exact date to be confirmed by Panasonic):

http://img265.imageshack.us/img265/8...aryspecey6.png

http://img80.imageshack.us/img80/818...prelimihn5.jpg

Ciao,
Pro-B

Any word on the price of this player?

The in-system price for the Panasonic is 499.00$ according to the employee who provided the scan (same goes for the new Sharp).

There is something strange about this player though because it looks way, way too thin. Much slimmer than the Sony and not even close to the old Panasonic (or so it looks to my eyes).

Here's the link from the German crew:
http://www.blu-rayler.de/forum/viewtopic.php?f=7&t=254

Pro-B

^If so, that's even lower than the MSRP for the DMP-BD10AK ($599.99, selling for $484.99 at Amazon)

I'll be interested to see reviews of this machine; it seems to have all the bells and whistles.

Okay, two immediate problems I'm noticing.

1) They list DTS-HD, but not DTS-HD MA, which is the lossless brand. It could be that they're using "DTS-HD" as a catch all, but I would like to know for sure.

2) I don't see anything about an ethernet connection. That means when Profile 2.0 comes around, this player won't be able to be upgraded.

Aside from those two, it seems like a really good player.

I believe they are not allowed to announce DTS-MA before October 30th.


I am sorry I can not comment on this one. Hopefully when the official announcement comes around we will know more.

Ciao,
Pro-B

Not allowed to announce MA before the 30th? Why?

October 30th - Official Panasonic Press Release.

What you see above Mallet is spywork :)

Ciao,
Pro-B

Oh, gotcha gotcha.

http://img98.imageshack.us/img98/5589/man2ok5.jpg

Fox- January 8th.

Pro-B

I have to agree 100000% here. This is exactly the type of post that causes the derailing of threads. This is not even news, it is speculation, with no sourced "leaks" or anything. PLUS it is not even really about BD.

I agree that the mods need to take a harder stance on bickering, but they also need to take a harder stance on this type of presentation of non-news as news.

Good to see them getting on board with extras.

even if it can't decode DTS-HD MA, i'm guessing it will bitstream it.

yeah, that's the first thing i looked for. seems like a waste of an otherwise very good-looking player if it doesn't come with an ethernet port.

Couldn't the firmware be updated with a downloaded ISO on a disc? You couldn't get the online features though.

That Panasonic player looks mighty tempting since it's profile 1.1 ready. If it has an ethernet connection this will be a day one purchase since I'm dying to get rid of the PS3 as my main player.

Profile 2.0 requires an ethernet connection for online interactive features. That's what this player can't be upgraded to.

Profile 1.1, which this Panasonic does have, adds picture-in-picture capability.